Health: Abington Sextuplets About To Turn 1

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Mother’s Day exclusive with the Abington sextuplets. They were born almost a year ago, then doctors didn’t know if they’d survive.

Emma is the playful one. Samantha, a little temperamental. John’s the flirt. Connor, he’s the easy one. Olivia, the smallest, is the quiet one. And Patrick he weighed the most when he was born, just two pounds, five ounces. And he’s still the biggest. Meet the Abington sextuplets, and big sister Julianna who’s only two. Yes, a toddler and six babies. Fasten your seat belts, this isn’t something you see very often.

“There are times where it can get a little overwhelming, but you just have to take a deep breath and calm down and everything get handled,” said Stacey Carey, their mother.

In the beginning, doctors didn’t know if they’d survive, some weighed just a pound. They struggled with a variety of illnesses related mostly to being born prematurely.

“They were tiny. It was ya know, it was scary,” said Stacey.

Now the babies are all healthy and home in Feasterville with their parents Stacey and Brendan Carey. They might be small, between 13 and 18 pounds, but they still need plenty of stuff, bottles, toys, clothes, loads and loads of laundry every day.

Stephanie said to Stacey, “And you said you do 40 diapers a day.”

She replied, “Yes, about that. I mean it’s just, it’s never ending.”

The babies sometimes sleep through the night, but not often, so they’ve gotten used to being exhausted. But how in the world can you possibly manage half a dozen babies at once?

They depend on full time help from dozens of volunteers, and family.

“I do have a lot of people that come over, but I make sure every day that I do spend time with each baby cause that is a concern to make sure that they get that individual time with mom,” said Stacey. She keeps careful records on the babies, each one has a different color coded chart and corresponding bottle.

“So that we can ya know keep track of who drank what, when, who ate when, who took a nap because it can get confusing,” said Stacey. To eliminate confusion upstairs, names are over each crib. Three boys in one room, girls across the hall, and yes, there are plenty of matching outfits.

Stephanie asked Stacey, “What about their future, when they start walking?”

She replied, “I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like. But I couldn’t imagine this.”

The Carey’s say the babies cost the family an extra two thousand dollars a month. Brendan is working a second job to make ends meet.

Top Content On CBSPhilly

Stephanie Stahl, CBS 3 and The CW Philly 57’s Emmy Award-winning medical specialist, is featured daily on Eyewitness News.
As one of the television industry’s most respected medical reporters, Stahl has been recognized by community and he...